The Ohio State women’s soccer team (3-6-1, 1-2-1) suffered a 3-2 defeat to the Michigan State Spartans (8-2-0, 4-1-0) in a soggy Big Ten conference match Friday afternoon at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich. The loss marks the first time OSU has lost a regular season Big Ten road contest since dropping a 2-1 decision at Indiana on Sept. 9th of the 2001 season.

Ohio State lost the match despite out-shooting MSU 23-10 and holding a 16-8 edge in the shots on goal department. The Buckeyes were lead in that category by freshman midfielder Danielle Dietrich, who fired four shots at the Spartan goal in five total attempts. In all, 11 different Buckeyes recorded shots on goal in the match compared to six from the Spartan squad.

“We have come out the last few games and absolutely dominated teams and created great scoring opportunities and just have not finished,” OSU head coach Lori Walker said. “We pounded their goal in the second half and didn’t let them out of their end. We are just in sort of a catch right now where we are playing great soccer but just not scoring goals.”

Michigan State made the most of its opportunities, however, and jumped out to an early 2-0 first half lead on an unassisted score by midfielder Ashley Lawson in the 38th minute of play. The goals is Lawson’s first of the season.

MSU extended its lead as Tiffany Laskowski headed a shot past OSU senior goalkeeper Jen Heaney near the post at the 43:20 mark of the match as she a received a corner kick from midfielder Michelle Perun to put the Spartans up by a 2-0 advantage. Michigan State would carry the two-goal edge into the intermission.

The Ohio State offensive attack would come out firing in the second half, recording 16 of its 23 total shot attempts in the second stanza. OSU freshman forward Colleen Hoban put the Buckeyes on the scoreboard in the 69th minute striking a rebounded-shot past MSU keeper Stacy Heller to cut the Spartan advantage in half.

Michigan State would answer with the game-winning score in the 85th minute on another unassisted goal by freshman forward Emma Harris following a slight delay in play due to severe weather.

The Buckeyes kept the pressure on MSU and retaliated less than a minute later as senior midfielder Sarah Lanham received a pass from senior defender Jen Miller and headed a shot into the Spartan net with less than five minutes remaining in the match. The assist is Miller’s 3rd of the season.

Michigan State would hold on to the 3-2 advantage and claim victory in a match where the Spartans were out-shot by the Buckeyes by over a 2-1 margin.

“Our current situation is a pretty frustrating cycle to be in,” Walker elaborated. “We are not challenging the opposing keepers. We are not making them make saves, we are actually making them look good. We are just hitting good shot opportunities right at the goalkeepers.”

Ohio State takes the field again on Sunday at No. 13 Michigan at 2 p.m. in Ann Arbor. The Buckeyes look to upset the Wolverines and snap a seven-game UM win streak in the series.